CBS Sues Dude For Using Gunsmoke Still on Social Media – iLulz of the Day

Alrighty then, we got ourselves an IP war folks, and CBS, that’s Columbia Broadcast Stations, or, as I like to call it, after learning about this IP assault, Crappy BS, that’s right, CBS is now Crappy BS. You’re welcome. Now, if they actually use that (and why the hell wouldn’t they), I will freaking sue them until the cows come home (because the cows only come home after a good IP lawsuit is filed).

This story starts with a New York photojournalist named Jon Tannen. Jon is a photojournalist, as opposed to a photo person, because Jon has been paid by journals and media to take photos, so we’re talking professional photo person.

Apparently, Jon had the audacity to do something that tons of other people have done before (how could he not know that, despite the fact that literally THOUSANDS of people previously did what he did, THIS TIME CBS would come out swinging?

What did Jon do that triggered CBS (Crappy BS)? Well, Jon had the nerve to use a still from an old TV show. He chose to post photos of the “Dooley Surrenders” episode of Gunsmoke. This LITERALLY triggered CBS.

CBS Lawyers said (and if you’re reading this out loud, be sure to use a crying spoiled baby voice while you do it), “Without any license or authorization from Plaintiff, Defendant has copied and published via social media platforms images copied from the ‘Dooley Surrenders’ episode of GUNSMOKE.”

50 whatever years after this episode aired, this Jon guy DARED to use a still from the show on his social media platform, robbing CBS (Crappy BS) of MILLIONS of dollars. Just kidding. This posting cost CBS nothing. If anything, it was a free promotion of their show. But don’t let facts get in the way of a good IP war.

I can’t imagine how it must have went down in CBS. Maybe someone in CBS REALLY LOVES them some Gunsmokes. It’s like their baby or something. They’re so proud of CBS for making Gunsmoke and owning the IPs on this show that they have become religiously fanatical about defending muh IPs for this show that was made like 50 years ago.

But wait, there’s more to this story. CBS didn’t just swing at Jon out of the blue. No, this lawsuit is a strike back at Jon who was the first one to swing in this IP war. Apparently, CBS had DARD use two oh his photos without permission, so CBS (Crappy BS) decided, dude, you think we’re PLAYING with you? Dude, we got IP lawyers that will chew up your IP Lawyers like bubble gum. This is the classic “My IP Lawyer can beat up your IP Lawyer” kerfuffle.

CBS, though, in its counter-suit, is asking for $150,000 in ‘damages’ from Jon’s sharing of their shows stills on muh social medias. Seems legit. But not really.

CBS, possibly realizing how Crappy BS they must come across, and realizing how chilling this could be to the whole notion of fair use should they actually win this suit (all to counter what might also be a wanker IP suit, albeit one that wouldn’t have nearly as chilling an effect on the creative community as the CBS counter IP suit would be), responded to Ars Technica’s request for more info on exactly how Jon butthurt them so bad that they launched a stupid IP lawsuit that, should they win, would suck for content creators everywhere, by issuing this pithy reply, “Matt, Doc, Chester and Miss Kitty are part of the CBS family. Anybody who tries to do them dirt will end up on boot hill.”

Dang, are they threatening to kill Jon in a shootout and bury him on good old boot hill? Seriously?

Tannen began this war, for sure. He decided to sue CBS because they used two photos of his on their website, ‘247 Sports” in an article about a high school football player. It appears CBS already removed the photos so I don’t know if they credited him. If they didn’t, that would be a bit Crappy BSey, but if they did, that would be a free promotion for Tannen.

Of course, if you read iState regularly, I’m sure you could probably figure out what I think of muh IPs, but even within the framework of IP is a legitimate thing (even though it is, objectively, stupid, which is a scientifically technical term that means it’s dumb and anti-human, as well as being sucky), the CBS counter-suit is for the dumbs.

From my perspective, the initial IP suit by Tanner is also for the dumbs, but the level of dumbs in that initial strike is nowhere near as for the dumbs as the dumbs in the counter-suit by CBS (Crappy BS).

Paul Gordon is the publisher and editor of iState.TV. He has published and edited newspapers, poetry magazines and online weekly magazines.
He is the director of Social Cognito, an SEO/Web Marketing Company. You can reach Paul at pg@istate.tv